StoptheCavalry
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I had my first lesson with a new instructor on Sunday so thought I would do a bit of a report so I can track our progress and also to see if anyone can give me some tips on how to improve...
Anyway so we borrowed a school and Sunday morning I had my 2nd lesson on Zak since I got him about a year and a half a go. I lost my flash and martingale before I even got on. Zak had never been up to this school before and it involved a bit of a hack across a couple of fields so really he was extremely well behaved, he even negotiated the sheep to get to the school.
The lesson started with a brief discussion of the anatomy of the horse and how things work or how things should work. It was clear from the off that Zak gets very tense through his neck and likes to give the impression he is working nicely but he is certainly not working correctly, so we are starting again from scratch. We did a lot of walking trying to push his neck out, I desperately need to ride with my hands higher, I seem to have got so used to hacking and riding in a very relaxed fashion it felt quite odd to not remember how to ride correctly!! The instructor had a different outlook than I am used to but it was so interesting and really refreshing. We discovered that Zak is sucking to his tongue to the back of his mouth, presumably to relieve the pressure of the bit on his tongue due to my low hands which was in turn causing him to be extremely tense under his jaw and neck. It was actually a little upsetting to realise my riding had caused him to be so uncomfortable. Anyway, whilst we were stood discussing the best course of action Zak clearly decided we were boring and decided to take off, only in trot but he really didn't feel like stopping and so cue lots of small circles until he went at a speed I was happy with. I am to raise my hands when his head goes up so I am always above him and the bit is sitting in the corners of his mouth, took quite a lot of getting used to, I seemed to spend a lot of time with my hands round my ears trotting at speed round little circles!! He is quite an anxious horse so he spent alot of the time with a very worried look on his face wondering what the hell was going on.
So to sum up I MUST ride with my hands higher, no flash, no martingale. Not sure how this will work out on a hack, tight circles on the road may be interesting but I am determined to get better so whatever it takes. My next lesson is in a months time and I really want to be able to show some kind of improvement.
So this is where I need help.... does anyone have ideas to help me remember to keep my hands up? I have a memory like a sieve and am desperate not to slip into my old ways.
Thanks for getting this far, any tips would be great!
I had my first lesson with a new instructor on Sunday so thought I would do a bit of a report so I can track our progress and also to see if anyone can give me some tips on how to improve...
Anyway so we borrowed a school and Sunday morning I had my 2nd lesson on Zak since I got him about a year and a half a go. I lost my flash and martingale before I even got on. Zak had never been up to this school before and it involved a bit of a hack across a couple of fields so really he was extremely well behaved, he even negotiated the sheep to get to the school.
The lesson started with a brief discussion of the anatomy of the horse and how things work or how things should work. It was clear from the off that Zak gets very tense through his neck and likes to give the impression he is working nicely but he is certainly not working correctly, so we are starting again from scratch. We did a lot of walking trying to push his neck out, I desperately need to ride with my hands higher, I seem to have got so used to hacking and riding in a very relaxed fashion it felt quite odd to not remember how to ride correctly!! The instructor had a different outlook than I am used to but it was so interesting and really refreshing. We discovered that Zak is sucking to his tongue to the back of his mouth, presumably to relieve the pressure of the bit on his tongue due to my low hands which was in turn causing him to be extremely tense under his jaw and neck. It was actually a little upsetting to realise my riding had caused him to be so uncomfortable. Anyway, whilst we were stood discussing the best course of action Zak clearly decided we were boring and decided to take off, only in trot but he really didn't feel like stopping and so cue lots of small circles until he went at a speed I was happy with. I am to raise my hands when his head goes up so I am always above him and the bit is sitting in the corners of his mouth, took quite a lot of getting used to, I seemed to spend a lot of time with my hands round my ears trotting at speed round little circles!! He is quite an anxious horse so he spent alot of the time with a very worried look on his face wondering what the hell was going on.
So to sum up I MUST ride with my hands higher, no flash, no martingale. Not sure how this will work out on a hack, tight circles on the road may be interesting but I am determined to get better so whatever it takes. My next lesson is in a months time and I really want to be able to show some kind of improvement.
So this is where I need help.... does anyone have ideas to help me remember to keep my hands up? I have a memory like a sieve and am desperate not to slip into my old ways.
Thanks for getting this far, any tips would be great!
it's taken 6 months to break my 14 year low hands habit but wow do the horses I ride go better now. I find it helps to think of having your hands too high, feel like they're above where they should be and you'll probably find they're in the right place lol. Also thinking of making an 'L' shape with your arm helped me loads 